Critical Observer

RUSSIA CATCHING UP WITH US AIR FORCE - USAFE COMMANDER

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The Russian air force has come much closer to being on par with the U.S. Air Force in recent years, said Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe. 
 
“The advantage that we had from the air, I can honestly say, is shrinking, not only with respect to the aircraft that they’re producing, but the more alarming thing is their ability to create anti-access area denied areas is a challenge that we’re all going to face up to and that we’re all going to have to train to,” Gorenc said Monday. 
 
After the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, the Russians invested heavily in modernizing its air force, Gorenc said at the Air Force Association’s 2015 national convention. 
 
“Apparently, they didn’t like what they saw from the air, and what we saw is a very large modernization effort and a capacity effort that is manifesting itself at this point,” he said. 
 
For years, defense officials have been anticipating that China will develop anti-access/aerial denial capabilities — a layered defense of enemy fighters and surface-to-air missiles that would be difficult for the U.S. Air Force to penetrate. 
 
"What I’m telling you is: This is not just a Pacific problem; it is as significant in Europe as it is anywhere else on the planet,” Gorenc said. 
 
He said Russia has made progress in developing such defenses in Kaliningrad and the Crimea region of Ukraine, which Russia annexed in 2014. 
 
“There’s clearly a whole set of modern, long-range, surface-to-air missile systems that are clearly being layered in a way that makes access into that area more difficult,” he said. “We’re going to have to develop TTPs [tactics, techniques and procedures] and continue to develop requirements that will allow us to address that modern, long-range SAM array.” 
 
Gorenc said he is also concerned by how much better the quality and quantity of Russian equipment has become and how far the Russians have come using remotely piloted aircraft. 
 
“I think there’s just been an in-general elevation in the capabilities of the Russian air force, particularly with respect to where they stood against U.S. and NATO capabilities,” he said. 
 
by By Jeff Schogol of Air Force Times

RUSSIA CATCHING UP WITH US AIR FORCE - USAFE COMMANDER

The Russian air force has come much closer to being on par with the U.S. Air Force in recent years, said Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of ...

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RUSSISA: 95,000 TROOPS IN MASSIVE MILITARY DRILL

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Russia on Monday launched its largest military exercises of the year, Centre-2015, involving some 95,000 soldiers including ground troops, navy and air force units. 
 
The long-announced war games are "the most large-scale drill of 2015," the defense ministry said. 
 
Russia has recently intensified snap checks of its military might, testing its capabilities from the Arctic to the Far East as relations with the West have plunged to a post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis. 
 
Centre-2015 takes place at 20 sites across Russia's central military district, which reaches from the Volga River to the Ural mountains and Siberia in the east, while also including far northern Russia. 
 
Troops from member states of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), made up of several ex-Soviet countries, are also involved in the exercise. 
 
The defense ministry said the war games are aimed at testing the readiness of the military of the CSTO countries to "manage coalition groups of troops in containing an international armed conflict." 
 
The troops will simulate "blocking and destroying illegal armed formations during joint special operations," the ministry said. 
 
The drill begins as leaders are to arrive in Tajikistan for a summit of the CSTO that starts Tuesday. 
 
The exercises running to September 20 include 20 naval ships and up to 170 aircraft, the defense ministry said. 
 
President Vladimir Putin will observe the drills during one of the days, Russian daily Izvestia reported last week, without giving details. 
 
The main action will take place in the Urals, in the Siberian Altai region and in the southern Astrakhan region and the Caspian Sea, the commander of troops in Russia's central military district, Vladimir Zarudnitsky told journalists, quoted by Interfax news agency. 
 
In European Russia, 12,000 troops will take part in drills at military ranges in the Urals region close to Kazakhstan involving around 90 tanks as well as 20 artillery and rocket launcher systems. 
 
Kazakh troops will also take part and a military delegation from Nicaragua will act as monitors, Zarudnitsky added. 
 
From: L’Agence France-Presse (AFP)

RUSSISA: 95,000 TROOPS IN MASSIVE MILITARY DRILL

Russia on Monday launched its largest military exercises of the year, Centre-2015, involving some 95,000 soldiers including ground troops...

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